Czech writer & journalist Egon Erwin Kisch visits the set of CITY LIGHTS, 1929

Following his visit, Kisch wrote an article entitled “I Work With Charlie Chaplin." In it, he describes Chaplin agonizing over a way to show how the flower girl comes to believe Charlie is a millionaire. Chaplin acted out some of his ideas for Kisch, but the journalist did not understand the gag. Kisch wrote: “Why is it so terrible if a foreigner, passing through town, does not understand one of his gags? But it is much more than a gag. It is the fundamental idea of the film."